A new $95 million Seed Fund has been unveiled by Flat6Labs, the top seed investor in MENA, to support the growth and development of early-stage technology firms across the African continent. With more than $16 million invested in startups and over $191 million raised in follow-on funding since its founding 12 years ago, Flat6Labs has a track record of carefully vetting out and investing in promising startups in North Africa. Additionally, it has created more than 2,500 direct jobs and 80,000 indirect jobs through its first two funds in Egypt and Tunisia.
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Here Is What You Need To Know
- The Africa Seed Fund (ASF), with its primary office in Egypt, will concentrate on three key investment regions in Africa: North Africa, West Africa, and East Africa. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, and Senegal are a few of the new countries that Flat6Labs will be expanding into. Ramez El-Serafy and Dina el-Shenoufy, the fund’s general partners, will oversee the ASF.
- Over the course of the next five years, the fund will invest in more than 160 early-stage startups in the African technology sector, with a focus on impactful industries like HealthTech, FinTech, EdTech, GreenTech, AgriTech, ClimateTech, and others that use information technologies to address social and environmental challenges and accelerate digital inclusion.
- Via the Flat6Labs Africa Seed Program, the Africa Seed Fund will invest in 160 firms that are in the Pre-Seed to Pre-Series A stage, with tickets ranging from $150,000 to $500,000. In addition, the Africa Seed Fund will offer seed tickets to seasoned founders outside of the programme. In subsequent rounds, ASF will also be able to reinvest in its portfolio firms.
Ramez El-Serafy, General Partner for ASF, says, “We are extremely excited about the launch of the Africa Seed Fund. Africa is one of the most exciting regions to invest in tech and innovation, with huge untapped potential and unique business opportunities. We will leverage our experience and knowledge to guide the startup founders to create truly scalable, investment-ready, Africa-based companies.”
- In order to help portfolio startups launch and expand their businesses, Flat6Labs’ Africa Seed Program offers startup capital, local business support, access to a network of seasoned local mentors, and logistical and regulatory assistance.
- With a hybrid strategy that combines virtual components that enable cohort connections throughout the whole fund region with real on-the-ground interactions in local marketplaces, the programme also adjusts to be regional. There will be two cohorts per year, each consisting of 10 to 15 businesses. Before the end of 2023, the initial investments in the chosen firms are anticipated.
Dina el-Shenoufy, General Partner for ASF, says, “The Africa Seed Fund is well-positioned to be a catalyst for driving long-term positive change that the youth of Africa really deserve, and to providing resources to the brightest of them while accelerating the future of the African continent. The program is designed to provide entrepreneurs with the resources that they need to be able to grow and to scale up their businesses to new heights. We have observed that the entrepreneurial market has matured over the years with a new wave of founders that are more experienced. We will also cater for these founders and offer higher ticket sizes to support these companies and a different track to the program.”
- The Egyptian Agricultural Innovation Project (AIP), the Scaling Digital Agricultural Innovations via Start-ups initiative, the GIZ on behalf of the German Government, and Flat6Labs are working together to create the Africa Seed Fund (ASF) (SAIS).
- The substantial infusion of funds from the ASF targets more than $700 million in revenue, more than 1,200 founders with a 20% female involvement, and more than 14,000 new employment.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard